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Showing posts with label Japan soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan soccer. Show all posts
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Teen fires Gamba to league cup glory
Teenager Michihiro Yasuda couldn’t have picked a better time to claim his first professional goal, scoring the winner in Gamba Osaka’s 1-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale in the final of the Nabisco league cup in Tokyo on Saturday.
Yasuda, 19, scored the lone goal of the afternoon in the 56th minute by redirecting a cross from Brazilian striker Bare.
Gamba’s first-ever cup title comes just two years after their disappointing penalty-shootout loss to JEF United Chiba in the final of the 2005 tournament.
Defender Yasuda, a product of the Gamba youth system, was named Man of the Match for his outstanding performance in an evenly matched affair witnessed by 41,569 at National Stadium.
“He is a very attack-minded defender,” Osaka manager Akira Nishino said of the young left back. “He is very quick, has a good attacking sense and is a fine utility player. I told him at halftime to get forward and try to score if he could, and voila!”
Comments from Kawasaki manager Takeshi Sekizuka:
“I’d like to say congratulations to Gamba and I’d also like to thank our supporters for coming out and always giving us 100 percent.
We wanted to show today everything that we had built up over the season so far.
In the first half, I think we created more of the chances and had an opportunity to go ahead. Had we scored then we would have got a grip on the game but it didn’t happen and in the second half we gave them a single sniff of goal and they capitalized. Overall we had more chances, but Gamba showed their greater experience over the full 90 minutes.”
Additional comments from Gamba manager Akira Nishino:
“My players played hard for the full 90 minutes today and I am very satisfied. I feel we have finally done it.
In the first half Frontale did overwhelm us in certain respects but we adjusted at half time and got a good goal at a good time.
Our team has grown this year, not only in attack but also in defense, and after the goal we controlled the game extremely well.
This competition has boosted our confidence in various ways. It’s brought out the strengths of our squad in the group games where we played without our national team players, and then by defeating the Urawa Reds and Kashima Antlers to reach the finals. This has all been very pleasing.
It's been an extremely interesting tournament for me as a manager. We had to make a lot of unusual changes as a team. In the league our lineup has been very consistent, but because I was forced to use so many backup players in this tournament, it's shown me Gamba has a lot of depth, a lot of options I didn’t know we had previously. Our base has grown broader this season.”
Copyright: C.G. Williams & Soccerphile
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Thursday, September 20, 2007
If it's gift-wrapped, the Reds don't want it ...
Urawa Reds manager Holger Osieck remains optimistic about his side’s chances of advancing to the semifinals of the Asian Champions League despite losing hold of a stranglehold on the home-and-away quarterfinal clash against Jeonbuk Motors on Wednesday night.
The Reds outclassed the reigning ACL champions from start to finish and were up 2-0 heading into the waning moments of the match at Saitama Stadium when Jeonbuk defender Choi Jin-cheul blazed home through a maze of players to take the glean off a terrific showing by the home side.
Since away goals count as double in the event of a stalemate, Choi’s last-gasp strike throws the rematch on Sept. 26 in South Korea wide open.
The ever-pragmatic Osieck, however, said he was far from disappointed with the way things transpired on Wednesday.
“First of all it's about winning, and we did that,” the German said. “And secondly, if (Jeonbuk) want to progress they have to beat us. So therefore my impression is that we can be confident. Not arrogant, but confident.
“I don't think our players will be arrogant. They will be focused 100 percent. And from what I saw (Wednesday), I think that yes, we can manage it.”
A tireless Tatsuya Tanaka stole the show for the Reds, helping set up Makoto Hasebe’s opener four minutes in before scoring the eventual game-winner in the 59th.
He was unlucky not to have scored two or three more as the Jeonbuk defense took the night off, but some nice saves from goalkeeper Sung Kyung-il and a fair dose of good luck prevented a blowout.
“We played good football. We have some decent stuff,” Osieck said of his team, which came off a comfortable 4-2 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Saturday to open up a four-point lead at the top of the J.League table. “Sometimes we pushed forward and sometimes we slowed the pace down and that is the type of rhythm that I like to see. And that is what my players can do.”
The Reds have a league clash this weekend against the Yokohama F. Marinos before flying to South Korea for the rematch on Wednesday.
That the road game against the defending champs in one of the most important matches in the history of the Reds organization hardly fazes Osieck, however. In fact, he appears to relish the challenge that awaits his charges.
“For me it doesn't matter if we play home or away, I want to see the same kind of football from my team. We can do it on the road and we can do it at home,” he said. “First and foremost we have to win. We have to be switched on from the start to the finish.
“I think that with our potential and our self-confidence right now that we shouldn't be worried. We’ll go there with our heads up and fully focused.”
Needing only a scoreless draw to advance, the question begged to be asked: Would he tell his players to smother the game?
Not a chance, Osieck said.
“If you go for a draw you will definitely lose. That's a fact. Why should we hide? We’ll play our game, just as we always do.
“Besides, you have to work hard for everything worth having in life. The only exception is at Christmas when you receive presents for nothing. But even then you usually don't get what you want.”
(c) C.G. Williams & Soccerphile
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The Reds outclassed the reigning ACL champions from start to finish and were up 2-0 heading into the waning moments of the match at Saitama Stadium when Jeonbuk defender Choi Jin-cheul blazed home through a maze of players to take the glean off a terrific showing by the home side.
Since away goals count as double in the event of a stalemate, Choi’s last-gasp strike throws the rematch on Sept. 26 in South Korea wide open.
The ever-pragmatic Osieck, however, said he was far from disappointed with the way things transpired on Wednesday.
“First of all it's about winning, and we did that,” the German said. “And secondly, if (Jeonbuk) want to progress they have to beat us. So therefore my impression is that we can be confident. Not arrogant, but confident.
“I don't think our players will be arrogant. They will be focused 100 percent. And from what I saw (Wednesday), I think that yes, we can manage it.”
A tireless Tatsuya Tanaka stole the show for the Reds, helping set up Makoto Hasebe’s opener four minutes in before scoring the eventual game-winner in the 59th.
He was unlucky not to have scored two or three more as the Jeonbuk defense took the night off, but some nice saves from goalkeeper Sung Kyung-il and a fair dose of good luck prevented a blowout.
“We played good football. We have some decent stuff,” Osieck said of his team, which came off a comfortable 4-2 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Saturday to open up a four-point lead at the top of the J.League table. “Sometimes we pushed forward and sometimes we slowed the pace down and that is the type of rhythm that I like to see. And that is what my players can do.”
The Reds have a league clash this weekend against the Yokohama F. Marinos before flying to South Korea for the rematch on Wednesday.
That the road game against the defending champs in one of the most important matches in the history of the Reds organization hardly fazes Osieck, however. In fact, he appears to relish the challenge that awaits his charges.
“For me it doesn't matter if we play home or away, I want to see the same kind of football from my team. We can do it on the road and we can do it at home,” he said. “First and foremost we have to win. We have to be switched on from the start to the finish.
“I think that with our potential and our self-confidence right now that we shouldn't be worried. We’ll go there with our heads up and fully focused.”
Needing only a scoreless draw to advance, the question begged to be asked: Would he tell his players to smother the game?
Not a chance, Osieck said.
“If you go for a draw you will definitely lose. That's a fact. Why should we hide? We’ll play our game, just as we always do.
“Besides, you have to work hard for everything worth having in life. The only exception is at Christmas when you receive presents for nothing. But even then you usually don't get what you want.”
(c) C.G. Williams & Soccerphile
Bet with Bet 365
World Soccer News
Soccer betting tips
Soccer Books & DVDs
Tags
Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting
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